Stats

Lifespan: Up to 50 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: Eurasia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

The guelder-rose is a deciduous shrub native to Europe and central Asia, famous for its showy lacecap flower clusters where small fertile blooms are ringed by large sterile white florets. In autumn its bright red translucent berries hang in drooping clusters, providing a vital food source for birds through winter.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Viburnaceae
Genus: Viburnum
Species: Viburnum opulus